A few weeks ago Matt DeLaVega, Steve Sullivan and I went on a four day trip through Kentucky. It was by design a darter photo trip and very fast paced. I can’t thank Matt Thomas enough for providing excellent data and routing assistance. Without his help we would have been blind. We had originally planned to start in central Illinois and work quickly into Kentucky but we found a storm system was almost stalled and would follow us as we traveled east. At the last moment, we decided to start in the eastern part of Kentucky and move west to have some control over the stalled weather system.

On Friday morning Steve and I departed from Chicago and traveled the great distance to eastern Kentucky to meet Matt near the first sampling site near the South Fork Kentucky River.

Campostoma anomalum Central Stoneroller
Luxilus chrysocephalus Striped Shiner
Notropis micropteryx Highland Shiner
Semotilus atromaculatus Creek Chub
Etheostoma flabellare Fantail Darter
Etheostoma variatum Variegate Darter

I’m sure we saw a few more things here that I’ve left out. We then hit the river on the way to the campground. Below are the highlights.

Ichthyomyzon bdellium Ohio Lamprey ?
Nocomis micropogon River Chub
Etheostoma baileyi Emerald Darter
Percina caprodes Logperch
Percina stictogaster Frecklebelly Darter







We took photos on a gravel shoulder that was apparently a high traffic area. We received quite a few looks and even one motorist stopped and talked for quite some time. He and his companion were amazed at what we pulled out of the river.

We then set camp and had a wonderful meal of delicious steaks and portabella mushrooms prepared by Matt. We looked for local reptiles that evening and talked about all sorts of fishy and reptile things. Being in the water is fun but sometimes I think the sitting around camp and talking is even better.

The next morning Matt had to depart from the trip to be with family while Steve and I tried to plan for the day. We drove west to a tributary of the Cumberland River in Pulaski county. This was a large stream but was inviting nonetheless. We were immediately rewarded with beautiful fish.

Cyprinella galactura Whitetail Shiner
Lythrurus fasciolaris Scarlet Shiner
Notropis telescopus Telescope Shiner
Cottus carolinae Banded Sculpin
Ambloplites rupestris Rock Bass
Lepomis macrochirus Bluegill
Lepomis megalotis Longear Sunfish
Etheostoma blennioides Greenside Darter
Etheostoma caeruleum Rainbow Darter
Etheostoma camurum Bluebreast Darter
Etheostoma sanguifluum Bloodfin Darter
Etheostoma stigmaeum Speckled Darter





The volume of my photo equipment these days tends to arouse attention and many stopped. Steve did and excellent job helping with photos but also is a quite the ambassador. He talked to the people who stopped and explained what we were doing for the remainder of the trip. Most of the people he talked to also asked many questions which went full circle to water quality and the great number of species these precious waters have. Showing folks a few darters makes them all believers.

That day we drove south near the Tennessee border our sample added Etheostoma obeyense Barcheek Darter, Etheostoma rufilineatum Redline Darter. We also noticed that a decent number of Cottus carolinae Banded Sculpin had light blue between their caudal bands. I can’t say that I ever recall seeing that but then again, I only see them when I drive south.









We camped nearby and in the morning sampled a Barren river tributary. When we arrived we decided to view the stream from the bridge. We were surprised how sterile the stream appeared. After a short time I could see the abundant trout and grabbed my rod. Afterwards we added Etheostoma barrenense Splendid Darter, Etheostoma bellum Orangefin Darter and I believe they would be Etheostoma lawrencei Headwater Darter* to the list. We had such a good time in this location, we ran out of light by the time we arrived at the next stream.
*I've since learned the Orangethroat looking darter is in fact Etheostoma kantuckeense the Highland Rim Darter








We drove to several campgrounds that evening unable to find an attendant to pay or any method to leave money. Naturally hotels were not to be found within a reasonable distance. We finally decided to leave the area when we came upon a group of people in the parking lot of a church. Steve thought we should ask them for direction and I’m glad we stopped. We were really out of luck since it was late on Sunday and luckily a kind couple allowed us to sleep on their property. After the sun fell and the trout were consumed, the fresh strawberry pie the couple gave us tasted well.




First thing in the morning we cooked a huge breakfast of goetta, fried mush with eggs and then we were ready for the Tennessee drainage sites. The substrate was coarse sand with small rubble riffles. This site added many fish to the list.

Lampetra aepyptera Least Brook Lamprey
Campostoma oligolepis Largescale Stoneroller
Erimyzon oblongus Creek Chubsucker
Etheostoma chlorosoma Bluntnose Darter
Etheostoma zonistium Bandfin Darter









At the last site we watched the scores of Largescale stonerollers in the riffles for quite some time and added only Fundulus olivaceus Blackspotted Topminnow to the list.


I would like to pay my respects to Ron Bramon who was taken both suddenly and prematurely. Ron Bramon is survived by his son Matt and two wonderful grandchildren, his wife Elaine and Sisters Lillian and Cindy as well as his brother David. His impact on those around him is obvious by the great many kind and generous friends and family.

Those are some great pics! I love all of the darters they are just beutiful. Thank's for posting them. My condolence for your loss.

Edited by octavio, 16 May 2008 - 06:42 PM.

Good stuff!
Those darter pics are incredible! I could do without the lamprey pics, eww. JK
My only complaint was each photo wasn't IDed. I can't tell which is which.

Thanks, My friend.

Good stuff!
Those darter pics are incredible! I could do without the lamprey pics, eww. JK

I liked the lamprey pics. I've only ever seen them as the disc of teeth and had no idea what they looked like from the top. They sort of look like the ebola plushie that I got from Giant Microbes.

I liked the lamprey pics. I've only ever seen them as the disc of teeth and had no idea what they looked like from the top. They sort of look like the ebola plushie that I got from Giant Microbes.

All the lampreys I've seen in the wild are 3 feet long and thick as a fire hose. They migrate up my favorite striper river at the same time as the herring. The big stripers follow the herring up river where I'm waiting for them waist deep in the current in the pitch black dark of night. It's spooky enough to be all alone in the pitch dark, waist deep in a large fast river. Having one of those horrid looking SOBs brushing up against my waders is somewhat distracting. After the first 3 or 4 times of clicking on my flashlight to see what was messin with me, I learned it's better not to look and just grin and bear it. I do however always make a point to show them to other fishermen on the rare occasion one invades my secret spot. Not surprisingly, I don't get many fishermen invading my secret spot.
Sorry for the thread derail. I now return you to your regularly scheduled trip report.

Mike, you should see stream lampreys like chestnut or brook lampreys live and in the flesh. They're much smaller and have a streamlined elegance to them. Uland's excellent photos in this thread don't quite show that aspect of lampreys.

Would brook lampreys be native to the Connecticut river drainage in central Ct?
When I was a kid growing up there in the 70s, we had a beautiful little crystal clear native trout brook which fed directly into the river. One of the very few other species [besides brook trout] present in the upper reaches were small [six inch or less] lampreys. Although we never saw an adult, we all believed they were baby sea lampreys. The other kids were scandalized to see me wade barefoot because they believed the "blood suckers" were gonna get me.

Would brook lampreys be native to the Connecticut river drainage in central Ct?
When I was a kid growing up there in the 70s, we had a beautiful little crystal clear native trout brook which fed directly into the river. One of the very few other species [besides brook trout] present in the upper reaches were small [six inch or less] lampreys. Although we never saw an adult, we all believed they were baby sea lampreys. The other kids were scandalized to see me wade barefoot because they believed the "blood suckers" were gonna get me.

American brook lamprey, Lampetra appendix, is known from central CT. If you saw them in the late spring they were probably adults since the ammocoetes (larvae) stay buried in the mud.

Fritz

Good stuff.
Those speckled darters are truly amazing.